Hans Wegner – Valet Chair (1953)

Wegner conceived the Valet Chair in 1953 after a long talk with Professor of Architecture Steen Eiler Rasmussen and Designer Bo Bojesen about the problems in folding clothes in the most practical manner at bedtime.With the Valet Chair, Wegner united the demanded functions with a sculptural design, and it is one of Wegner’s most innovative chairs. A signature piece fusing a chair and a clothes hanger. Underneath the seat hides a box for storing your watch, wallet and keys and when the seat is raised, it functions as a hanger for a pair of trousers.

The first version of the chair was created for the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition in 1951, where the Danish King Frederik IX saw the chair and immediately ordered one. However, Wegner was dissatisfied with the first version, and continued working on the design for another two years, before the King could finally receive his chair. By then it was a three-legged version, created in pine with a teak seat to stretch the exclusivity of the design.

It was part of Wegner’s mind-set that a piece of furniture was not manufactured before it was fully developed. There are many stories about the fact that Wegner let King Frederik IX wait for the Valet Chair. Nevertheless, the Danish King ended up ordering a total of ten Valet Chairs.

Author: Anna Marie Fisker

Photo: Bonnier Publications International A/S, 2014. https://bobedre.dk/design/wegner-bare-een-god-stol